If you are researching policies that support resilience and social-ecological transformations to sustainability, UNRISD would like to hear from you. We are organizing a session on “The Transformation we want: Towards a global policy environment for resilient futures” at the Resilience 2017 conference, taking place in Stockholm, Sweden on 21-23 August 2017 and are seeking abstracts on policy reforms and innovations which will produce environmentally sustainable and socially just solutions.

About the UNRISD session

The session is part of the theme on social-ecological transformations for sustainability. Starting from the definition of transformative change proposed in the UNRISD 2016 Flagship Report the session aims to advance the understanding of the political processes underlying eco-social policy approaches that integrate environmentally sustainable and socially just solutions. It seeks to inform global policy debates with an analysis of the processes of change required to promote sustainability and resilience.

What we are looking for

For the UNRISD session, we are looking for national or subnational level examples of policy reform that combine and prioritize social and environmental goals for more sustainable and transformative outcomes. In these examples, we are particularly interested in the politics and power relations that shape transformative change. Abstracts are invited for papers that will address the following questions:

• How does the new or adjusted policy prioritize environmental and social objectives in an integrated “eco-social” framework?
• What are the inclusive and democratic characteristics of the reform process?
• What new institutions, coordination mechanisms or partnerships have emerged from the new/adjusted policy?
• How is the policy design based on human rights and part of a comprehensive and integrated strategy?
• What fundamentally different outcomes (transformative change) are driven by the new/reformed policy ?
• How is the new/reformed policy financed?

Submissions are welcome from scholars, practitioners and policy makers. Priority will be given to developing country examples.

How to submit an abstract

In order to submit your 300-word abstract, please visit http://resilience2017.org/, create an account and select the following options:

Track S – Accepted Sessions

Topic: S55 The Transformation we want: Towards a global policy environment for resilient futures

Conference theme: Social-ecological transformations for sustainability
UNRISD will select up to five abstracts for the session. Other submissions may be considered for inclusion in an upcoming UNRISD Think Piece series on eco-social policies for resilient futures.

Deadline for submission is 13 January 2017. Please contact us at krause@unrisd.org, indicating “Resilience 2017” in the subject line, if you have questions regarding the abstract submission. Please do not send submissions directly to UNRISD; use the conference website as indicated above.

Cost and funding

Accepted speakers will be responsible for covering their own travel and accommodation costs. Limited funding for developing country scholars may be made available by the conference organizers.

About the Resilience 2017 conference

Following previous Resilience conferences held on triennial basis since 2008, Resilience 2017 will discuss resilience as a key lens for biosphere-based sustainability science. It will reflect back on the scientific progress made, and aim to set out exciting future directions for research. A main focus will be on global sustainability challenges and opportunities, which today are heavily influenced by the speed, scale and connectivity of the Anthropocene.

For the original article please click here.

For the web page of the conference please click here.